This invention relates to a reel assembly, a method for assembling reel sections together and a method for winding a length of material on a reel assembly. The invention is more particularly concerned with such a device and methods which are suitable for winding a length of hose or similar material on a reel assembly during fabrication and for assembling the reel sections together.
When exposed to an outdoor, wet or adverse environment, it is desirable that a device embodying the present invention should be fabricated from plastic material, which may be molded and does not rust, making such a reel assembly particularly useful for handling garden or similar hose. Additionally, such a device has great utility when used with collapsible garden hose (consisting of a length of tubing enclosed within a jacket, with fittings on each end of the hose length) where the hose may be flattened while winding for removal of water and to store and transport collapsed hose in minimum space.
A reel assembly embodying the present invention is of novel construction having a pair of members defining spaced apart walls bridging and extending outwardly radially from a central body, the walls and body defining a space for confining a length of wound hose therein. The central body preferably is formed integrally with one of the walls, and is rotatable relative to the other wall for winding up the hose within or for unwinding a wound hose from the confining space on the body. A carrying handle assembly may be arranged on the periphery of the walls, and this handle may also prevent separation of the walls and permit easy winding and unwinding of the hose on the reel.
The wall formed integrally with the central body preferably has grasping means for turning the reel. Preferably, a slit formed in the movable wall inwardly radially from its periphery, adjacent and across the central body, may be adapted for receiving one end of the hose, with its fitting secured in the slit, to hold the hose end during winding.
When fabricating the reel, the first wall and central body section may be formed in one piece and include a peripheral flange over which a portion of the grasping handle is secured during assembly of the reel. The second wall section may have a snap pin centrally thereof which rotatably engages in the central body portion of the first wall and central body section, and the first wall and central body section can be rotated on this second wall portion when the sections are secured together. This second wall section also may have on its periphery a fixed grasping handle portion which during assembly is secured to the other portion of the grasping handle which may be secured over the peripheral flange of the first wall and central body section. Preferably, the first wall and central body section also carries on its periphery means for mounting a handle for rotating the first wall and central body section on the second wall section.
Preferably, the pair of walls may be concentrically aligned and have a plurality of apertures formed therethrough, not only for saving material and making the assembly lighter, but also to permit easy drainage of fluid from the hose during winding and to make the wound material accessible and easier to wind and unwind.
The configuration of the wall and central body sections allows those sections to be interlocked flat and the interlocking portions to be protected from damage during shipment. Likewise, during winding of the hose on the reel, the central body and wall section defining the movable wall and body portion may be secured on a fixture and the hose wound on the body adjacent the wall of its section, without the second wall section being assembled thereto and possibly interfering with rapid winding of the hose. The configuration of the split grasping handle assembly is important, not only because the handle arrangement permits locking of the wall sections together at their peripheries, but also because this grasping handle section includes means for relatively friction free engagement with the wall section flange to provide secured connection of the sections together and still allows free rotation of the movable wall and central body section on the central pin of the other wall section.
The assembly may be easily completed after the hose is wound on the central body, by merely snapping the central body over the wall section pin into the boss of the central body and wall section and joining the grasping handle portions together over the wall flange. Once joined together, the hose and reel assembly is a complete unit ready for shipment, storage and sale, with the hose collapsed in a minimum dimension. Such a compact arrangement may also be maintained by the customer who buys the unit and who and after each use of the hose and reel assembly tightly winds the hose on the reel assembly.
While the reel assembly embodying the present invention is particularly useful in handling lengths of hose, the reel assembly can also be used for handling a great variety of materials, such as lengths of wire, ribbon, rope, chain and other materials which may be repeatedly wound upon and unwound from a reel.